July 2017

Shari Shares

Workplace mentoring is a “learning partnership" between employees for purposes of sharing information, institutional knowledge and insight with respect to a particular aspect of the job or endeavor. Our division is looking at matching full time employees who want a mentor with other employees who are willing to be a mentor. The mentor may be within your department, our division or in another University division. If you would be interested in having a mentor, please complete this survey formby Friday, July 21. You are not making a final commitment, just indicating your interest. We will do our best to make an appropriate match.

Last December, I mentioned our division, along with the entire campus, would focus efforts toward increasing the appreciation and awareness of diversity and inclusion. Our division has decided to focus on cultivating civility and respect. In May, our leadership group (comprised of ADs, directors, AVPs and me) participated in a workshop where we identified shared perspectives that would build more civility and respect in our areas. I am working with the directors to identify action items their units can undertake to increase civility and respect. You'll be hearing more about this in the coming months. One aspect of civility and respect that came out of our workshop was a stronger awareness of the importance of listening to others. Instead of listening to respond, we need to listen to understand. This is harder than it sounds, but if practiced across all levels, it could help us expand our capacity and knowledge, show care and respect, and reduce misunderstanding. Everyone agreed that regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, country of origin, or other identities that make us different from one another, we need to be civil to each other and listen to each other to have a workplace that works successfully together.

Department Spotlight: Procurement Services

As part of the Division of Administration & Finance, UNF’s Procurement Services works as a service function that supports the University’s mission and vision. Housed in Ann & David Hicks Hall and the Central Receiving building (main campus), this staff of twelve full-time employees provides value-added services in the procurement, receipt, and delivery of materials, supplies and services necessary to support the University’s programs and activities. In addition to management staff, Procurement Services is comprised of a sourcing/buying staff and the administrative staff that supports their actions. The professionals in Procurement provide research and guidance to affect strategic sourcing as well as managing the end-to-end process of acquiring the goods and services needed by UNF Departments/Units to fulfill their mission for the University. This staff also manages operation of iContracts, the University’s central document approval and signature routing system. The Central Receiving Staff can frequently be seen all over campus delivering goods shipped to the Central Receiving facility as well as assisting Departments with the return of unsatisfactory/damaged goods.

Employee Spotlight: Eric Dickey

Eric Dickey is the Associate Director of Procurement Services. He came UNF in October 2016 after spending the previous 10 years at The University of Alabama.

What is an average day like in your job? In the world of procurement there are no average days. Every day presents a new challenge or opportunity for us to better ourselves or the University as a whole. I always tell people that I have two things that I really love about my job: vendors and campus. Vendors present an opportunity and challenge on a daily basis as we are trying to get their best price for campus while they are trying to sell their items at a large enough margin to make money and keep their doors open for business. My other favorite thing is speaking to campus about how our office can help them acquire the items they need in the most cost effective and legal manner possible. Campus is our customer and we want to be a partner with them throughout the procurement process.

What has been your favorite work project and why did you like it so much? Before coming to UNF I worked at The University of Alabama and had just completed rolling out their eProcurement system. Campus seemed to love the system as they could log in once, shop with multiple vendors, combine their order and easily check out with the credit card. This system allows them to compare prices between vendors and place the best priced item in their shopping cart. After entering their PCard information, the system would separate out the orders and send the credit card information to each vendor. It was fabulous and all the employees love it…maybe we will see something like that here in the next few years!

What do you do on your days off of work? For the past nine months I would have said driving, as every other weekend I was driving back to Tuscaloosa to see my wife and two daughters. We decided instead of them moving to Jacksonville with me last October that they would stay until the end of the school year. It was very tough but we made it through. As for the future…now that they are here I imagine that you will either be able to catch us at a local beach or the theatre.

Eric Dickey

What is one hidden talent you possess? I am not sure it is hidden, but my biggest talent that I possess is negotiating. Recently, housing was working toward renewing their cable TV contract, and was ready to move forward with the proposal that the company submitted. However, before we committed I asked Housing for an opportunity to talk with the vendor to see if they could offer us better pricing. After a few emails and phone calls, Gaea Holt and I were able to save housing an additional $40K per year, and $120K over the three year life of the contract. My motto is that it never hurts to ask. If you don’t ask then you will never know if you could have negotiated a better price.

What is the most important thing you have learned while working at UNF? That working with an Auburn person is not so bad after all. Those that know me realize that I am a graduate of The University of Alabama and a true Alabama Fan, and most people know that our biggest rival is Auburn. My immediate supervisor at UNF was an Auburn graduate and longtime employee there. I have really enjoyed the past nine months and look forward to what the future holds…even if my supervisor does make me dress in blue and orange and say "war eagle" on occasion.

Are you Ready for the Hurricane Season?

As a Floridian, we know the importance of preparing each year for the hurricane season (June 1-Nov. 30). It is important to prepare our personal lives in the event we are impacted by a storm, but there are also actions we can take at work to get ready.

Update your emergency contact information:Verify the accuracy of your emergency
contact information by logging into myWings "Employees Self
Service," click the "Personal Information" tab and
then "View Emergency Contacts." If the emergency
contact has changed or you wish to add an additional contact, make the
necessary updates.

Update your Campus Alert
System information:
When an urgent situation on campus arises, faculty/staff receive
a voicemail and/or text message from the Campus Alert System. Employees should verify their phone number is correct by logging into myWings "Employees Self Service,"
click the "Personal Information" tab and then click
"Campus Emergency Alert System." It is best to list a cell phone number, but if you do not have a cell phone number, list your home number (do not list your UNF phone number).

Know where to get current UNF emergency information: The University will post emergency information on the homepage. In the event the homepage becomes unavailable, go to WWW.UNF911.ORG. This is an alternate site that UNF will use if necessary to communicate information to its students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, the University will communicate using Facebook and Twitter.

Know what to do to secure your work area: In the event the University suspends normal operations in the response to the threat of a storm, review the checklist for securing your work area.

Quality Enhancement Plan

One of the fundamental requirements for reaffirmation of our accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission of Colleges (SACS-COC) is the development of an acceptable Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). A QEP is a five-year initiative to improve some aspect of our student learning outcomes or our student learning environment. UNF recently completed the QEP selection process.

Four excellent proposals were under consideration and Writing Around
the Curriculum was selected as UNF's next QEP. Shawn Brayton, director of Academic Support Services, will organize a development team to fully
develop the QEP. This work will consume most of the next year and will
involve a number of stakeholders. The QEP will be submitted for review by
the SACS-COC On-Site Peer Review Committee in mid-February of 2019. Full
implementation will begin after SACS-COC accepts our QEP. Please review the QEP Writing Around the Curriculum.

Our previous QEP was Community Based Transformational Learning. The University will remain committed to it as our students
have clearly benefitted from the efforts and activities of the CBTL
initiative.

Presidential Search

John Delaney, our president for the past 15 years, is retiring on May 30, 2018. A search committee was formed comprised of members of the Board of Trustees, Board of Governors, alumni, faculty, donors and the student body. The University has hired Parker Executive Search from Atlanta to assist with the search for our next leader. Parker will actively recruit candidates from October until February. The search committee expects to narrow the pool to 8-10 semi-finalists and then to three finalists in February. Campus interviews are tentatively planned for February 26-28 and March 1.